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Selfish, I don't know. I admit to letting my daughter stay up late now and then in the hopes that she would sleep in, and in rare cases, I've even let her crawl in my bed and watch TV so I could catch a smidge of extra snooze time. It seems pointless, though, to wake a sleeping kid and get her to go potty, then hope she drifts off again. I wouldn't do that.

it is my kids in THEORY... something we're considering but haven't done quite yet. mostly because like so many mentioned, it would seemingly take SO LONG to drag them to the toilet, wash hands, jammies back, etc counterproductive

my 8 1/2 year old knows how sloooooooow moving i am in the morning until my joints loosen up (fibro) and he had joked he'd sleep almost an hour longer if he didn't have to pee so bad. and his sister said she only wakes up because she needs water, so we've been mulling it over, my husband and I. no test run yet... just lots of thought for the mornings when I'd really benefit from staying in bed til 745 :) and we are doing "no week day TV"for the summer so i can't just lounge and have them watch a show most days. once I am *UP* we all do stretches together and make breakfast but it's a rough yucky early morning grumpy momma sometimes. just attempting a creative trouble shooting for our family.

8 1/2 is old enough to get up and pee on his own, and although I don't know how old your daughter is, I would think a bottle of water by her bed would do the trick. I would talk to them about doing what they need to do (pee or get a drink) and then either going back to sleep or doing something quiet on their beds/in their rooms until you get up and get moving. I assume your kids know about your condition, so you could just help them understand that by doing this, they can help you and if they help you, it can make their days better because you can ease into them.

When my 10 and 7 yr old wake before me they entertain themselves until I'm up. Usually I'm up just being lazy in bed-but they don't need me to jump out of bed as soon as they do.
Have you tried putting water bottles next to them and setting up maybe some cereal bowls on the counter so they can help themselves in the morning?

I would not do it even if a bed wetter. The key to bed wetting is waking after the bed wetting event, fully awaken the child, have them toilet again, and train the brain to wake up each time their body has to urinate. This was told to me by urologists and sleep doctors. The waking before the pee does squat to stop it. And yes, it is selfish. Interrupting sleep cycles is interrupting important work the brain is doing at night.

Answer by
Anonymous
at 2:43 PM on Jun. 25, 2013

No. I would never do this. My dd has water by her bed and she can use the potty by herself. If she scared of the dark then I get up but we go right back to bed. But no. In the morning on the weekend she usually plays with my iPhone or iPad while I stay in bed for a few mins. But I usually wake before her. During the week I always wake before her.

I know how hard it is to get moving in the mornings because the fibro slows me down, too. My kids have learned to take care of themselves and each other, for the most part, as I'm working through my kinks and morning aches.

Don't wake them up in the middle of the night. Instead, sit down with them and talk with them. They are old enough to be part of the solution, and if they have part in coming up with a morning plan and understand that they are helping the family, they are more likely to cooperate. Create a list of things they need to take care of (toilet, drink of water, get dressed) and a list of things they are allowed to do (read, play with quiet toys, watch certain TV shows) in the mornings. Have a morning snack/breakfast ready that they can eat without supervision.

And you message me. We'll talk fibro shop and try to help your mornings be less difficult.

ahahahahahhahahaha!!!
good one!
I cant judge that one, a parent has the right to do what they want
I do know the licensing rules on that though in a preschool setting...
you are not allowed to wake them up if they are infants but you can if they are toddlers (say if nap time is over)
Its a little different, but the state recognizes it, and I dont think its thaaaaat bad...
just know they may be more grumpy since they could have been in a deep healthy sleep?
so I would never do it, and plain and simple its not the best thing to do, but I would not say its bad parenting...just not good parenting?